I thought that if sleep helps me shutdown my mind, then I would skip any anxiety attack episodes. I was wrong. Have you ever experienced a horrible symptom of anxiety while sleeping?
We all sleep. It is a way for us to replenish lost energy from a day’s work. Sure, you always hear from experts to have at least 8 hours of sleep for optimum rest. But this is impossible with our lifestyle.
Anxiety Attack During Sleep
We all know that our minds no longer access the world when sleeping. It is our time to rest and recover. But not for me who have been suffering from attacks before. It was a very weird thing to experience.
What’s going on?
At least once a week, I will suddenly just wake up in the middle of the night, rushing very fast towards nothing. Jumping out of the bed, rushing to the door, window or cabinets, not direction at all.
Sometimes, I was even shouting loudly (can’t remember what I was saying) but the other people in my house were all woken up by my shout. It’s like escaping from a monster from a nightmare, but in real life.
This type of attack only lasts about 10 seconds. Afterward, I became very tired, heart racing and catching my breath. And a few mad family members (sorry if I disrupted your sweet dreams)
One doctor that I consulted said it is a symptom of a panic attack. To be precise, it was nocturnal panic attacks that gave me problems at night.
What Did You Do?
Nothing. As time goes, the episodes become fewer. Before, I had it every week until it went down to every month and then every 4 months or so. What I think helped me was to stop using my computer at night.
With Nokia cell phones still very popular, the yellow screen and black texts were all it took to bore me. By 10 PM my eyes usually become heavy without the computer screen lighting up the room.
I think that was it.
I changed my nightly routine and all of a sudden, nightly panic attacks were gone.
And Now?
I have to admit that just last month I had another episode. You must forgive me because the last time I had it was 3 years ago. My personal accomplishment in managing anxiety attacks.
Lately, I have been stressing out about an expensive repair of our house. It might be the cause but who knows. The good news is, I can better manage panic attacks from sleep. Proof?
Jumping out of bed no longer makes me go to the door. I am no longer shouting but still breathing heavily.
I did not have any nightmares so I knew it was an anxiety attack all again. I’m older now. Maybe that also contributed to how I handled that last one.
Have you also experienced this? Share in the comments section